Iceland film - the instant of a take |
There is a lot of good footage of salmon taking a variety of flies fished on the surface - bombers, hitched tubes and giant caddis - with especially good examples from Newfoundland and Labrador where dry fishing is a widely used tactic. However, all of the film I have seen is taken from or near the angler's perspective: I haven't found any underwater sequences of surface takes showing approach angle and so forth. In addition, the small number of salmon that I have caught in the UK either on the surface or in the surface layer does not give me adequate evidence for analysis and discussion.
Equally, I haven't equalled Hugh Falkus' endless hours of observation from elevated points of fish behaviour in clear water responding to a variety of baits and lures. Nor is my armoury as broad as his: worms and prawns are not part of my repertoire. Accordingly, this post only examines the dynamics of sub-surface takes whilst fishing with sunk flies.
In thinking about takes there are 2 cardinal points we must bear in mind.
- First, there are plenty of theories but we don't know what prompts a salmon to take a fly: every take is aberrant behaviour that currently defies explanation. I have difficulty accepting the 'induced take' as anything other than good fortune based on getting the fish's attention.
- Second, the way in which an adult salmon takes a fly is markedly different from how it takes prey at sea, even though the fly may emulate a marine species. Like other predators the salmon attacks at high speed - 3-4 m/sec is typical - as it scythes through a shoal of sand eels. I've watched salmon feeding in the surface layer and there is an audible hiss as the dorsal fin cleaves the water. If salmon hit our flies at that speed sprained wrists and broken rods would be commonplace. In addition, the salmon's mouth and throat is designed to trap and swallow prey fast enough to make room for the next sand eel, yet I have never hooked a salmon in the gullet. In sum, it's doing something abnormal prompted by factors other than hunger.
Thus every take is different and unique to the fish and the circumstances. Nevertheless they appear divisible into some 'classic' groups. This post looks at 3 broad types - 'Against the Fly'; 'With the Fly'; and 'Minimum Shift' - that have been the commonest in my experience and are therefore most easily described. Beyond those is the realm of the random, usually involving later-season cock fish, which includes extreme cases such as the 'Headlong Charge' and 'Surface Slash' While these make for amusing anecdotes they are not amenable to analysis beyond noting the power of testosterone.
Crash! Against the Fly
Take - Against the Fly |
In this scenario you have to do precious little, beyond smoothly lifting the rod and leaning back to get the hook all the way home. Never do anything hasty or violent, and as always, ensure your drag is on a sensible setting. Barring bad luck you will land the majority of fish that take like this. You'll be able to identify them by virtue of the hook often being in the side of the jaw opposite your bank - i.e. right bank, left jaw.
Bang! With the Fly
Take - With the Fly |
The simple fact is that if the fish turns with the fly the mechanics are much less favourable, but there are no sure fire ways of changing the odds. Just observe the basics. Keep a good working tension between you and the fly. Use the rod as your first shock absorber by holding it upstream of the line. Keep couple of feet of slack line as a back up to the rod (which reacts far faster than you ever can). And again, don't strike or do anything hasty. If you've missed, you've missed, and only one per thousand comes back for a second try.
Over the years I've heard a lot of advice such as giving the fish slack to run back to its lie before setting the hook. This is probably more about stopping inexperienced anglers doing hasty and violent things than anything to do with hooking fish. The salmon will only take the fly back to its lie if it has failed to eject the foreign object from its mouth; and the fly will only stay in there by virtue of the hook. In any event the drag on a salmon fly line alone is more than enough to start the process of setting the hook. I therefore suggest that the hook hold does not improve much with delay.
Pluck! Minimum Shift
Take - Minimum Shift |
Minimum Shift Take Hen fish from low slow water Blue Charm #14 front centre of jaw Dalnahoyn Pool Tomatin 13 September 2010 |
Conclusions
It may seem strange that you will detect the merest fragment of leaf, weed or grass upon your fly, yet incredibly you feel nothing when a salmon takes it into her mouth. It's simply because in most cases the first stage of the take is towards you and slackens the leader. Which way the salmon turns from the take is the determining factor in what you feel thereafter and how soon. Only then do you become an active participant. There's no magic or tricks, just a few basics to observe. Most salmon hook themselves without your help, so all you have to do is avoid upsetting that happy situation through haste and violence.
Hopefully by the next post some more salmon will have hooked themselves for you and me.
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